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Befriending the Ancients (starting with Zhuangzi)

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This month, I practiced imaginative and creative exercises in order to foster a parasocial relationship with a dead philosopher. I sometimes tell people that I am in “the honeymoon phase” when I read the works of a philosopher for the first time. By this I mean: a period of time where I am charitable towards the philosophy of an author like I would be towards that of a loved one. During this phase, what I am interested in is to understand every aspect of their philosophical system (understood broadly; theoretical system or way of life). I try, as much as I can, to side with this system against all possible objections, and I try, at all time s , to see the world through the lens of that philosophy. It is a kind of infatuation. When this happens, I am provided with a kind of companionship that is very precious to me, since the philosophy in question stays by my side in the course of my daily life. I would wager that this is not a rare phenomenon among philosophy enthusiasts. Some ki
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“Jhana 1”: wrapping my head around bliss-on-demand

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  For the last two months, I have been practicing the jhanas. What I have seen so far has blown my mind. I am only at the beginning of this journey and I have many questions. 1) The Jhanas: what they are & how accessible they can be The jhanas are altered states of consciousness; they are meditation states, as described in Buddhist texts. To put it more precisely: “The bliss states, or jhānas, are a series of concentration states. You can learn to enter these states through meditation techniques.” 1 I finally decided to take the plunge into this practice following the recent hype around it. See, for instance, Manufacturing Bliss 2 by Nadia Asparouhova: “A growing community centered on the Bay Area is rediscovering the jhanas, a meditation technique that practitioners claim could upend how we think about the brain — and transform our lives in the process.” Or for another example, “What if you could have a panic attack, but for joy?” 3 by Oshan Jarow: “Mindfulness is one thing.
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The Joyful Practice of Stoic Death Writing

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Do you want to think about death intensely, every day, for a month straight? It’s not as morbid as it sounds. I’ve had the pleasure of participating in a 28-day workshop or “challenge” called “The Joyful Practice of Stoic Death Writing” 1 . I recommend it. E very day, we were sent ( via email ) a quote about death written by Marcus Aurelius, along with a few thoughts about this quote from the author of the workshop – stoic, writer & coach Kathryn Koromilas. In addition to those, there were always a few writing exercises & attention exercises to engage in, in order to internalize the quote and its wisdom. For instance, we were often asked to reformulate the quote with our own words, or to think to ourselves some kind of “ M emento M ori” during the day. Each email came with a countdown reminding us of the passage of time; “There are 28 days left” , “27 days left” , etc. This really puts you in the mood. The group of people who went through these exercises could spea
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